US Science Magnifies Its Social Role as Funding for Basic Research Comes under Sharper Political Scrutiny, Scientists around the World Are Looking for New Strategies to Support Their Work: A Four-Page Report

By Robert C. Cowen, writer of The Christian Science Monitor|
The Christian Science Monitor, February 10, 1993 |Go to article overview

US Science Magnifies Its Social Role as Funding for Basic Research Comes under Sharper Political Scrutiny, Scientists around the World Are Looking for New Strategies to Support Their Work: A Four-Page Report

Robert C. Cowen, writer of The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

GEORGE BROWN JR., chairman of the House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, is widely respected in the United States
scientific community and thought of as a friend. But many members
of that community now wince at what their friend is saying.

Mr. Brown, a Democrat from California, is questioning nothing
less than their fundamental faith that scientific research pursued
for its own sake is an inherently good thing. In opinion pieces
published in newspapers and technical magazines, he has been
asserting that "society needs to negotiate a new contract with the
scientific community ... rooted in the pursuit of explicit,
long-term social goals."

This is a call to recognize a new era. Brown says that the
present paradigm for science policy was "designed primarily by
scientists for scientists." It features what he calls "a
distinctive blend of rugged individualism and unfettered
competition {that has led} the United States to world leadership in
Nobel Prizes." Now scientists are called upon to put their
individualism at the service of larger national goals, he says.

What those goals should be and whether and to what extent they
should shape the basic research agenda is the central science
policy issue facing the Clinton administration.

Most of the $76 billion federal research and development (R&D)
budget supports development of the fruits of basic science into
useful applications. President Clinton has promised to make that
development, which has had a military slant, more relevant to
economic growth and other civilian needs. But without the constant
infusion of new basic knowledge, the whole R&D enterprise would
eventually stagnate.

Daniel Koshland Jr., editor of the journal Science, reflects the
concern of many scientists when he warns that "it would be a
monstrous policy error to cut back on basic research if a
significant increase in jobs or standard of living is wanted."

However, as Dr. Koshland's predecessor at Science, veteran
science policy analyst Philip Abelson, has pointed out, "For the
foreseeable future, federal support of scientific research is
likely to be conditioned by relevance to social goals, with
Congress having a major role in specifying the goals."

This is Brown's main point. He urges scientists to become part
of that decisionmaking process. His committee has begun a year-long
series of hearings expected to resume this month.

Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National
Institutes of Health (NIH) will be under scrutiny in both the House
and the Senate.

Even when added together, the $10.362 billion 1993 appropriation
for NIH and the NSF's $1.859 billion research budget are only 16
percent of the federal R&D budget. Yet these two agencies fund some
two thirds of the basic research. And their multiyear budgets are
up for reauthorization.

NSF director Walter Massey has said he recognizes a need to
respond to congressional demands for more research that is relevant
to economic and other national goals.
Clinton's early signals

President Clinton signaled his interest in such science policy
matters with the early designation of John Gibbons as his science
adviser. …

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US Science Magnifies Its Social Role as Funding for Basic Research Comes under Sharper Political Scrutiny, Scientists around the World Are Looking for New Strategies to Support Their Work: A Four-Page Report

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